Shoaib Abdul Basit and Kehinde Medase
The combination of different knowledge sources has been considered conducive for innovation performance. While the literature has advanced regarding the combination of knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
The combination of different knowledge sources has been considered conducive for innovation performance. While the literature has advanced regarding the combination of knowledge inputs as in internal and external research and development (R&D), the evolvement of knowledge blend from customers and competitors has also received substantial attention. The purpose of this paper is to delineate the sources of information from the customers into private and public and examine their direct effect on firm-level innovation. While the extant literature is mixed regarding this, no clear-cut results have emerged yet on the effect of knowledge combination from the private and public customers with internal R&D and human capital on innovation activities. This study, however, shed more lights on the inconclusiveness of the effect of knowledge diversity on firm-level innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the microdata from the German Community Innovation Survey 2013, the authors employ a binary instrumental variable treatment model with Heckman selection, a suitable strategy to estimate binary variables to cope with a possible endogeneity issue.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that knowledge from customers in the private and public sector, and competitors are positively and significantly associated with innovation. The authors find evidence of a positive and significant effect of the combination of firm internal knowledge competencies with information from the public sector. In contrary, the blend of knowledge competencies with information from customers in the private sector and information from the competitors results in decline to innovation. The results also show that the blend of internal R&D with knowledge source from the customers in the public sector appears to have a stronger influence in the manufacturing sector than services. The results offer strong evidence of the positive link between knowledge diversity and firm-level innovation performance.
Practical implications
The results have significant managerial implications on the role of the blend of different sources of information in supporting a compelling internal knowledge development to optimise innovation performance.
Originality/value
This study is foremost to focus on knowledge sources from the customers in the public and private sector and its relationship with R&D and human capital in supporting a successful introduction of innovation.
Details
Keywords
Shoaib Abdul Basit, Thomas Kuhn and Uwe Cantner
Knowledge competencies and (R&D) activities are one of the most important sources of innovation and have been widely discussed in the literature. In comparison, the role of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Knowledge competencies and (R&D) activities are one of the most important sources of innovation and have been widely discussed in the literature. In comparison, the role of the competitive environment for the innovation activities of firms is still open to debate and has not been fully understood yet. Therefore, this paper intends to provide new evidence on the interaction between knowledge competencies and R&D activities of firms on the one side and their competitiveness in the market environment on the other. In particular, the moderating function of market competition is explored. In this respect, the analysis covers the main innovation types as well as both sectors, manufacturing and services.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis is based on a three years panel dataset of German manufacturing and service firms obtained from Mannheim Innovation Panel (MIP) and Community Innovation Surveys (CISs: 2011, 2013 and 2015). For the estimation, a binary instrumental variable treatment model with Heckman selection method is used. Also, it provides a suitable approach to estimating the binary variables in order to cope with endogeneity concerns.
Findings
The estimation results show that R&D activities and knowledge competencies are positively related to innovation activities of different types conditioned on firms' specific perception of their competitive environment, in terms of outdated products/services as well as strong competition from abroad. Most importantly, the results from the moderation estimation reveal that there is a significant difference between the manufacturing and service sector. Service firms engage more in internal R&D activities on generating product innovations while the manufacturing firms conduct more external R&D on specific types of innovation. Further, the authors find that strong competition from abroad positively and significantly reinforces the effect of knowledge competencies on innovation activities for more types in services than in manufacturing. In contrast, outdated products and services tend to decline the effect of knowledge competencies for some innovation types in both sectors. The authors also observe a positive and significant reinforcement effect on knowledge competencies. However, it is found more beneficial for service firms since they can employ more innovation strategies.
Originality/value
The focus of the study is mainly on the impact of firms' competitive environment on innovation activities in various types through its interaction with knowledge competencies and R&D activities, across manufacturing and service firms.
Details
Keywords
Abdul Basit, Laijun Wang, Asma Javed, Muhammad Shoaib and Muhammad Umer Aslam
The emergence of the COVID-19 epidemic has considerably increased the intricacy of information, exacerbating the difficulties firms encounter in efficiently processing and…
Abstract
Purpose
The emergence of the COVID-19 epidemic has considerably increased the intricacy of information, exacerbating the difficulties firms encounter in efficiently processing and understanding accurate data and knowledge. Consequently, the COVID-19 epidemic has profoundly exacerbated production ambiguity for firms, thereby disrupting their regular business operations and supply chain activities. Digital technologies (DTs) are essential tools for firms to process and interpret information and knowledge, thereby improving their resilience against supply chain interruptions.
Design/methodology/approach
This research investigates the effect of digital technologies on firm resilience throughout COVID-19, utilizing PLS-SEM and artificial neural networks (ANN) derived from a comprehensive survey of Pakistani manufacturing firms.
Findings
Our research assesses the mediating role of supply chain integration, memory, and absorptive capacity, as well as the moderating influence of information complexity. The outcomes demonstrate that supply chain integration (SCI), memory (SCM), and absorptive capacity (SCAC) mediate digital technologies’ influence on firm resilience. Moreover, in situations where information is highly complex, DTs have a greater effect on a firm’s resilience.
Originality/value
The results enhance our comprehension and awareness of the resilience-related effects of DTs and offer significant management insights for strengthening firm resilience in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of the present study is to reveal the antecedents of the new green product success (NGPS) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that manufacture in Türkiye with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present study is to reveal the antecedents of the new green product success (NGPS) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that manufacture in Türkiye with a middle-income economy. To this end, a research model for the serial mediating role of green human capital (GHC) and green adaptive ability (GAA) in the relationship between green mindfulness (GM) and NGPS was developed and tested. Determining the driving forces of NGPS is essential due to the contributions of SMEs manufacturing, especially in middle-income economies, such as Türkiye, to the national economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypothesized relationships. The study hypotheses were tested in a sample of 396 manufacturing enterprises, qualified as SMEs in Türkiye with ISO 14001 certificates.
Findings
Empirical evidence indicates that GM, GHC and GAA act as significant antecedents of NGPS. Furthermore, empirical evidence demonstrates that GHC and GAA, in turn, mediate the relationship between GM and NGPS.
Research limitations/implications
Managers, especially in manufacturing SMEs, should be aware that they need to develop intangible resources to improve NGPS. Increased investment in GM results in higher levels of GHC and GAA, which collectively leads to improved NGPS.
Originality/value
The current literature has not previously explained the mechanism of the relationship between GM and NGPS. The originality of the present study, which discusses the relevant research gap, is to develop an integrated framework to investigate how GM impacts NGPS, specifically for SMEs, and to test it empirically.
Details
Keywords
The main objective of this study was to understand why employees engage in time theft behavior and what is the behavioral consequence of this deviant behavior. To do this, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The main objective of this study was to understand why employees engage in time theft behavior and what is the behavioral consequence of this deviant behavior. To do this, the conservation of resources theory helps to examine the role of organizational cronyism behind employee time theft behavior and decreased proactive behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-wave self-administered employee survey was used for data collection. The data were collected through an adopted questionnaire from nurses working in the public sector hospitals of Pakistan. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze data collected from 256 respondents.
Findings
The results of this three-wave study supported the hypotheses which are: (1) Organizational cronyism positively predicts employee involvement in time theft behavior. (2) Employee time theft behavior negatively impacts their proactive behavior. (3) Organizational cronyism is detrimental to employee proactive behavior. (4) The relationship between organizational cronyism and proactive behavior is mediated by time theft.
Practical implications
In the presence of organizational cronyism, employees use time theft as a dysfunctional coping strategy to conserve their valued resources rather than allowing the organization to consume them. Organizational leaders of public sector hospitals must promote merit-based HRM practices to discourage time theft behavior as well as to improve the proactive performances of the nurses.
Originality/value
This study is one of the initial attempts to extend the scant literature on the antecedents and consequences of time theft behavior and its dimensions in the South Asian context.